Higgins, who will open and close the conference each day and introduce keynote speakers, is a senior lecturer in history at Teesside University.

She has written extensively on the Easter Rising commemorations, including her award-winning book Transforming 1916, which looks at the how the events were remembered on the 50th anniversary in 1966.

Higgins was an historical adviser on the GPO Witness History visitor centre, which opened in Dublin in 2016 to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.

She was also one of the curators for the public history project, National Treasures, a collaboration between RTÉ, the National Museum of Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The television series to accompany the project was broadcast earlier this year.

Higgins is the leader of Dear Mrs Pennyman, a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund that is shining a light on letters written by women whose husbands, sons and brothers were killed in action during the first world war. She will curate an exhibition arising from the initiative in November at Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough.

Higgins is a founding director of the Irish Association of Professional Historians.

There's a 20% early bird discount on delegate places at this year's conference until 20 August.